Winding indicator for talking machines



Nov. 13 ,1923. 1,4739% L. A. FREEDMAN WINDING INDICATOR FOR TALKING MACHINES 'Oiginal Filed Feb. 7, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet -1 Nov. 13, ms. 1,4739% L. A. FREEDMAN WINDING INDICATOR FOR TALKING MACHINES Original Filed Feb. '7, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v Fig.5. 47325 v mull i; 2? ii llllllii Z2 indicating device.

Patented Nov. l3, "i923.

Sli YES LOUIS A. EEEEDIFIAN, OF NEE- YDRK, N. I.

WINDING ENDICATUR TALKIEG Ii-ZACHINES.

Application filed February 7, 1921, Serial No. 443,585. Renewed April 5, 1923.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Louis A. FREEDMAN, a citizen or the United States, and a resident of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new andusei ul Improvement in Vinding Indicators for Talking Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide an indicating device which can be readily att ched to or incorporated into the construction of the ordinary or well known form oi talking machine or'phonograph, by which the user of the same can note at a glance whether or not the spring motor of the talking machine needs winding, or can tell exactly how much the motor is wound while the winding operation is going on, so that overwinding and consequent breaking of the spring. is avoided. By the use of my improved indicating device, premature winding of the spring motor is avoided.

A further object of this invention is to provide an indicating device of this character which will permit the user of a talking machine to wind up the spring motor while the machine is in operation, or'in other words'is playing a record, without in any way interfering with the operation of the A. further object of this invention is to provide an indicating device for talking machines which forms a substantially complete self contained unit which may be readily attached to the ordinary form of talking machine without in any way materially altering the mechanism of the machine.

With these objects, and other objects which may hereinafter appear in View, I

have devised the particular arrangement of parts hereinafter setforth and more particularl pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

Reference s to be had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part hereof, in

which- 1 Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the phonograph driving mechanism to which n'iy improved winding mechais attached;

Figure 2- is an end view of the motor driven gear which is connected to the indieating means, and the mounting for said gear;

Figure is a side elevation, partly in section, or the gearing which drives the ind icator;

Figure atis a plan view, partly in section, of portions of the talking machine mechanism, together with my improved indicat ing mechanism;

Figure is a view of the end of the winding crank or handle, showing the manner in which a lengthening stud is used to lengthen the handle when necessary;

Figure 6 is an end view, partly in section the gear casing and attached part-s; Figure 7 is a front elevation of the gear casing;

Figure 8 is a top plan view ott' the central section of the gear casing, said view being taken on the line 88 of Figure 7, looking in the direction of the arrows, and

Figure 9 is a bottom plan view of the central section 23 of the gear casing showing a modified method of attaching the driving worm.

Throughout the various views of the drawings similar reference characters designate similar parts.

in the preferred embodiment of my invention, as disclosed in the accompanying drawings, 1 indicates the table or platform of an ordinary style of talking machine. Depending from the under side of the platform 1 is a bracket 2 which forms a part of the i aine of the spring motor and which isprovided at its lower end with a bearing 3 and which is also provided at its upper end with a bearing a. In these hearings 3 and is rotatably mounted a spindle 5 upon vhich is fixed the rotatable turntable 6 upon which the record rests. At 7 is shown the ordinary sound he and at 8 is the usual sound box arm.

lhe lower end of the spindle 5 is in the form of a worm as at 9, and this worm 9 is engaged and rotated by a worm gear 10, said worm gear being rotatably mounted on the main-spring shaft or arbor 11 or" the machine. 'This main-spring shaft or arbor 11 is rotatably mounted at one of its ends in the bracket 2, the other end of this shaft being supported by the customary bracket used in the talking machines, not shown. Fixed to the worm gear is the spring motor casing 12 which contains the ordinary form of spring motor in which the outer end of the spring is secured to the casing The outer end of the spring being secured to the motor casing 12, as above menllG tioned it thus rotates said casing, thereby rotating the worm-gear which in turn drives the worm 9 and thus rotatesthe turntable 6 upon which the record rests.

Mounted and fined upon the main-spring shaft 11 is a ratchet 13 which is engaged by a pawl 1d held in contact with the ratchet 13 by means of a spring 15. By the pawl 14 and ratchet 13 backward rotation of the main-spring shaft 11 is prevented. The foregoing describes the usual type of spring motor in which one end of the spring is fastened centrally to the power receiving or winding mechanism handle, and the opposite or outer end of the main spring is fastened to the power delivering or unwinding end which drives the worm gear 10 to rotate the record.

Fixed upon the main-spring shaft or arbor 11 is a gear 16 which meshes with a gear 17 mounted above it in the backet 2.

The ear 1? forms the windin ear and P i 7 it is pro vided with a boss 18 which 1S rotat- .nism is the casing 21.

ably mounted in the bracket 2. said bracket being provided with an ear 19 on which is formed a bearing 20 which supports the outer end of the boss 18. I

The above mentioned parts 11 constitute mechanism generally found on an ordinary phonograph and form no part of my invention.

A part of my improved indicating mechav This casing comprises a lower member an intermediate member 23 and a top member 24;. Each one of the casing members is provided with ears which register with one another when the three parts of the casing are placed together and screws 26 thread into screw-holes in the three parts of the casing to hold the same united.

The casing 21 is provided with a pair of split bearings 2-7 which are formed by the co-operating portions of the casing mem bers, with and 23 with (see Figure 7 Mounted in the upper bearing is a hol low worm :28 which encircles and is secured to the winding crank or handle 29 by a split pin 30; or as desired. It will be seen that the winding crank 29 is mounted to rotate in the usual. bearing 5.) secured in the side wall 60 of the talking machine casing or cabinet and the crank is screw threaded as at 31 on its inner end. and this end threads into the boss 18 of the winding gear 17. as disclosed in Figure .4. It will be seen that by means of the construction just descrilwd manual rotation of the winding crank 29 will cause a rotation of the worm 28 together with the winding gear 17.

As it is in many instances desirable to at tech 7111) improved winding indicator to various types of phonographs it sometimes occurs that the winding crank or handle 29 provided. with such machines is too short. In instances of this kind I utilize a lengthening stud 32 such as disclosed in Figure 4:, which threads on the end of the winding crank 29 and which is provided with a threaded end 33 identical with the threaded end 31 on the winding shaft and this threaded end is adapted to thread into the boss 18 on the winding gear 17. To permit a ready removal of the lengthening stud 32 from the end of the winding crank 29, I provide a perforation 3a in the stud 32 which permits of the insertion of a suitable tool to unthread the stud 32 from the crank In the lower bearing 27 of the casing 21 is mounted a worm 35 which is similar to the worm 28, except that the worms 28 and 235 are adapted to cause rotation in opposite directions, that is,one of them is provided with a right hand thread, while the other is provided with a left hand thread. V

Secured to the lower worm 3511s by the split pin 36 is a pin 37, whih projects through on opening 61 in the wall 60 of the phonograph cabinet and said pin is'secured to one end of a flexible shaft 38, the other end'of said shaft terminating in a pin 39 which is secured in the hub 40 of a spiral gear 41 as by the split pin 12. I

The spiral gear 41 is held in mesh with the motor driven gear 10 by a spring 65 and is driven by the motor driven gear 10, the means for mounting the spiral gear 4:1 comprises a U-shaped bracket 43 which is pivoted at its upper end on a pin 14 mounted in a bracket 45 secured to the under face of the platform 1 as by the screws 46.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the worms 28 and 35"are adapted to be retated in the same directions; the worm 28 being driven by manual rotation of the winding handle and the worms 35 driven by theflexible shaft 38 which is driven by the motor through the medium of the gears 10 and 11.

The upper and lower members 22 and 2% of the gear casing are provided with bearings in which is mounted a rotatable crossarm shaft 524 which is provided with a pair of integrally formed, laterally extending side arms 4:8. It will be noted that the side arms {-8 are substantially square in crosssection. Loosely mounted upon the shaft 47 and free to rotate thereon is a pair of gears a9 and 50; It will be noted that each of these gears is a combination or double gear, that is, each gear, is provided with spur teeth 51 and crown teeth 52. The spur teeth on the gear- 19 are engaged and driven by the worm 28 while the spur teeth onthe gear '50 are engaged and driven by the worm 35.

Pins 53 are secured in the ends of the arms 48 and serve as bearings for pimons 5% rotatably mounted upon said pins. These pinions 5st mesh with the crown teeth 52 on the gears -19 and and are driven in a manner to be hereinafter set forth.

On the upper face of the casing member 1a of the casing 21 is provided a dial 55. This dial is provided with a number of spaced-apart numerals, the numerals being placed at proper distances apart to indicate the windings required to play a record.

Thus, when through the medium of the mechanism above described, the pointing hand 57 which is secured on the upper end of the shaft 47 by the screw 58, is moved to the numeral 1 on the dial 55 this is an indication that one record of an arbitrary diameter or duration has been played. When the pointing hand 57 reaches the numeral 2 on the dial this indicates that two records have been played, and so on.

From the foregoing, the operation of my improved mechanism will be readily understood.

lVhile the machine is in operation and a record is being played, the worm gear 10 is driving the spiral gear ll which rotates the flexible shaft 88 thus driving the worm 35. The worm 35, being in mesh with the spur teeth 51 on the gear 50, drives said gear. The rotation of the gear 50 causes the pinions 54 to be rotated, the gear 49 remaining stationary and the pinions 54 rotating around it. This rotation of the pinions 54 causes a consequent rotation of the shaft 47 with its attached indicating hand 57, which indicates the unwinding of the spring motor on the dial 55. It will be understood that the gears are of such dimension that they properly cause the indicating hand 57 to indicate upon the dial the amount of windings coincident with the amount that they have been rotated.

In order to bring the indicating hand 57 back to the zero position which will indicate that the motor is fully wound, the handle 29 is rotated in the usual manner to wind the phonograph. As the worm 28 is secured to the winding crank 29, rotation of said crank causes rotation of the gear 49, which by its rotation causes rotation of the pinions 54 and consequent rotation of the shaft 47 in an anti-clockwise direction until the zero position is reached. The zero position is the initial position wherein the motor is fully wound, and. when the needle reaches this point the operator knows at once that the maximum amount of winding has been given to the motor, and thus ceases winding.

By the arrangement of the gear mechanism heretofore described, the motor may be wound up by manipulation of thehandle 29 at any time regardless of whether the machine is playing a record or not. If it happens that the winding operation is being performed during the playing of a machine,

and the winding-up process is progressing at the same speed as the unwinding of the motor, the indicating hand 57 will remain in a stationary position. If, while the record is playing and the winding-up process is proceeding faster than the unwinding process, the indicating hand will be progressing backward and approaching towards zero, and if the unwinding is taking place faster than the winding up process, the indicating hand will show this fact.

In Figure 9 I have shown a different form of worm. In this construction the worm is of a short form and is secured upon the winding crank 29 and on the pin 37 by means of metal displaced from the winding crank or pin. To secure this result, the worm is provided with a pair of perforations placed diametrically opposite one another, one of which is shown at 62 and a blow from a punch or other tool causes a portion of the material of the winding crank or pin to enter into these perforations and hold the worm securely in position. The above discloses a method of quickly and firmly securing the worm in place on the winding crank usually provided with talking machines, thus obviating the necessity for drilling the crank for the reception of a split pin.

A feature of the invention resides in the fact that the entire indicating mechanism is in the form of a self-contained unit which is readily applicable to practically any of the well known forms of phonographs. The indicating device thus comprises a casing 21 and its contents together with the driven gear $1, the bracket in which it is mounted and the flexible shaft connecting the gear with the casing. I am aware that winding indicators have heretofore been constructed, but in each instance, they were built into the phonograph, requiring the phonograph to be fitted with special parts and in some instances requiring the phonograph to be completely dismantled if at any time repairs were required to the winding indicating mechanism.

From the foregoing, it is obvious that my invention is not to be restricted to the exact embodiment shown, but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claims.

What I claim is: a

1. A device of the class described comprising a talking machine having a casing, a motor within the same, a gear driven by said motor, a winding handle for the motor, a gear casing supported thereon, an indieating mechanism on said gear casing, means within the casing for driving said indicating mechanism and a driving connection extending between the gear casing and the motor-driven gear.

2. A device of the class described comprising a talking machine having a spring too motor, and indicating means for registering the amount of spring power stored therein having a casing, a rotary indicating shaft mounted therein, means for driving said shaft from the motor comprising a motordriven gear, a flexible shaft secured thereto and connected to means Within the casing for driving the rotary indicating shaft in one direction and a manually operated winding handle extending through the casing and connected to means for driving the indicating shaft in an opposite direction.

3. A device of the class described comprising a gear casing a Winding handle extending through the same and supporting said casing, and indicator on said casing for registering the amount of spring power stored w'thin the motor, means for driving the indicator in one direction from the ing handle extending therefrom, a gear cas- 7 ing supported on said handle outside of the cabinet, diiierential gearing Within said casing, an indicating dial on one of the faces of said casing, a pointing handle driven by the gearing over said dial. a motor driven gear within the cabinet and a driving connection extending between said gear and the differential gearing.

Signed at'the city, county and State of New York this 5th day of February, 1921.

Louis A. FBEEDMAN. 

